Wales are aiming high again after 30 years of sporadic success and deep lows. When they say they are confident of doing well against New Zealand, a team they have not beaten since 1953, it is an assertion backed up by a new-found ambition that last week saw them open a £4m centre of excellence that will allow all the national sides from the Under-16s upwards access to state-of-the-art training and support facilities.

The centre, at Wales's Vale of Glamorgan base, boasts four training pitches, one indoors, one with floodlights and another based on the exact dimensions of the Millennium Stadium, a fully equipped gymnasium, two administration and training blocks, team rooms and changing rooms. Geography sometimes worked against Wales in the days of the club system with 18 first-class clubs crammed in the south of the country often provoking jealous rivalry, but it is now working for them with most of the players who will use the facility based within a 90-minute drive.

A mural adorning the entrance shows a giant dragon's tail, green at the base, which slowly changes colour until it reaches a rich red at the top. It represents a young player who walks in through one door and eventually leaves through the other after a long and successful international career.

"No rugby nation in the world has better facilities," said the Welsh Rugby Union's head of rugby performance and development, Joe Lydon, the former England backs coach. "It means that there are no excuses now. We are setting high standards and the centre of excellence compares to anything I have seen or worked at in the world game. This is an aspirational environment and nothing will be left to chance. Facilities like these do not guarantee success but they provide the opportunity from which it can be earned."

It is a different world from the one Stephen Jones stepped into in 1998, and not just because Wales were thrashed 96-13 by South Africa in Pretoria as he won his first cap. "We would have a couple of evening training sessions a week and a packet of sandwiches afterwards," said the Lions outside-half. "We have come so far in the last 11 years. Back then we were a long way from the leading sides in the world but now we firmly believe we can beat anybody on our day and our aim is to become the No1 side in the world.

"That is now an attainable goal. I envy the young players coming through the system because they will be given every chance to succeed. I do not think that a lack of talent has ever been a problem in Wales: we have always had players of quality coming through the system, but we have not always harnessed their abilities. That has now changed and if we do not succeed now it will be because we are not good enough. Winning has always been important during my time with Wales: it is simply more important now and the facilities we now enjoy, which will be the envy of the world, will ensure that we are able to build on success."

Wales have failed to do that in the past 30 years, imploding after moments of triumph, such as 1988, 1994, 1998 and 2005, partly because little planning had gone into the successes which were, in each case, unexpected and were built on soft foundations. The WRU was rarely reluctant to spend money, but it went more on individuals than strategic plans. The arrival of Warren Gatland as head coach after a poor World Cup campaign in 2007 coincided with a sea-change in policy. The 2008 grand slam was another surprise, but Wales's head coach has been determined to avoid mistakes made in the past.

"Warren keeps raising the bar," said Jones. "There is no resting on what you have achieved and the emphasis is on improvement. Playing New Zealand is the ultimate challenge, even if they are not currently the top-ranked team in the world. It is an exciting time for Welsh rugby. We have a good squad that has been together for a while and we believe in ourselves."

For Gatland it is not just a question of having the best facilities but taking on the best regularly: Saturday is the first of four meetings against the All Blacks before the 2011 World Cup, which will be staged in New Zealand. "We have created an inspirational working environment where the coaches and players can now focus on development and match preparation," he said. "We are treating all our players with the utmost respect and now we can ask them to deliver their best for Wales."